Thompson Valley boy's lacrosse pays for momentary lapse

Clinton scores five in Eagles' loss

Thompson Valley High School's Kyle Murray, left, goes up against Lewis-Palmer's Grant Helwig in the first quarter of their game on Saturday at Patterson Stadium.
(Steve Stoner)

The focus for the team is to play a full game at 100 percent. It's a lofty standard, to say the least, but Rich Modesti feels his team is getting closer to the target.

However, there has been one glitch so far this season for the boy's lacrosse team at Thompson Valley High School, and that's been the start of the third quarter. On Saturday afternoon, the malfunction lasted all of 5:35 on the clock at Patterson Stadium, but the damage was severe -- five goals in that span for visiting Lewis-Palmer and a 13-12 loss as a result.

"We just had a small letdown at the beginning of the third quarter the past couple of games," Modesti said, his team now 1-2 on the season. "We identify that as an issue we need to deal with. I think we kind of slowed down a little bit, weren't fully prepared to play as hard as we could right at the beginning. Our overall goal was to play hard for the whole game. That letdown was really a difference maker. Without that, it's a three-goal game in our favor."

For the most part, Thompson Valley's offense functioned pretty well, but the Eagles also ended up playing from behind most of the game. After spotting the Rangers the first two goals of the game, Thompson Valley tied up the score with goals from Brian McGhie and Michael Murray just 16 seconds apart. But before the frame was over, Lewis-Palmer had broken the tie and played with the lead the rest of the day.

Advertisement

Most of the time, it was a slim margin. But those five goals to start the third -- the first three from Kyle Anderson -- would turn out to be key, especially with the way Ranger goalie Grant Osterlund was playing.

He spent most of the afternoon turning away shots, many of them tough and close in. And even when the Eagles would get a ball past him, Eric Hoghteling had that sinking feeling of ringing the post three times, twice in a row in the first half.

"He's the reason why we run the defense we run," LPHS coach Alan Smith said, his team now 1-1. "He's going to be our backbone this year and next year. I can't say enough about the kid. He's awesome, he's amazing and a good teammate, as well."

Thompson Valley's Nik Clinton found the magic spot, however, though it was even a bit of a shock to him. Camped out to Osterlund's right, Clinton had three straight goals from a sharp angle that appeared to have no chance at success, yet turned out to be high percentage bullets.

Modesti said it comes from a lot of offseason work from Clinton, who also adds a bit of belief helps the cause.

"Probably the best reason for that is coach has kind of given me the mindset I can hit whatever I want to shoot, but I have to know myself I can shoot that," said Clinton, who led all players with five tallies. "So I go home and I shoot those shots every day, 10-15 minimum every day, over and over until I can get them in a row. Hopefully in a game, they work out like they did."

The Eagles twice drew to within one goal with 5 minutes remaining, but the third goal of the game from Lewis-Palmer's Tyler Pope at the 2:07 mark offered a cushion, and Thompson Valley's final goal came with just 1 second left.

"That's a hard one," Clinton said. "We've been learning that we need to play 100 percent for 48 minutes. In the past, our teams have played 100 percent, 2 minutes here, 2 minutes there. We've been trying to get that. I feel (the third was) the only point we didn't play 100 percent."

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story